Miss USA, Tara Conner, may not deserve her title and tiara

As Miss USA, Tara Conner is considered a role model and expected to act accordingly. Now pageant organizers are expected to make a decision within a week on whether the 20-year-old has lived up to those expectations.

The Miss Universe Organization said Thursday that it was evaluating Conner's "behavioral and personal issues," but she has not been stripped of her tiara. The organization and the Miss USA pageant are owned by Donald Trump and NBC.

"The Miss Universe Organization and Mr. Donald J. Trump will be evaluating her behavioral and personal issues to see what we can do to work with her and what we will do about her reign going forward," said the organization's president, Paula M. Shugart. "Mr. Trump will make a determination and announcement within the coming week."

Shugart did not say what Conner had done to prompt the evaluation. But Shugart's statement came on the heels of a report that Conner, a Kentucky native who lives in New York, had been frequenting local bars, putting her reign in jeopardy. The legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21.

Miss USA is considered an example, and her conduct must reflect that, Miss Universe Organization spokeswoman Lark-Marie Anton said. Behavior such as underage drinking is clearly prohibited, she said.

In an interview, Trump declined to discuss Conner's behavior.

"I can't really talk about it now," Trump said. "But we have to make a decision. There is no question about that."

Trump said if Conner gets the boot, first runner-up Miss California Tamiko Nash would take over as Miss USA, the AP says.

Trump said he had not spoken with Conner.

A telephone message left for Conner with her grandmother was not immediately returned Thursday.

More than 5.8 million people voted for Nicholas Maduro at the presidential election in Venezuela. This is more than a quarter of registered voters. Why did those people vote for the man, who, as Western media write, took Venezuela to the brink of collapse?